Michigan Town OKs Liability Insurance, Reinstates Police Department

Newly sworn-in trustees in Oakley, Mich., are reinstating the village’s police department after its shutdown in September.

The Saginaw News reports the village council voted 3-2 to re-establish the police force. It also approved liability insurance to cover the department. New village board members were sworn in following the Nov. 4 election and before the special meeting.

The previous board voted Sept. 9 to shut down the department after learning that a new insurance police didn’t include liability coverage. A Saginaw County judge ordered the police department shut down again in October.

Oakley has roughly 300 residents, but the department had 12 officers and 100 reserve officers who lived around the state and helped pay for the police budget. The village is located about 75 miles northwest of Detroit.